BSNL network overloaded

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the country's second-largest GSM service provider, has overloaded the cellular network in 17 of its 24 circles .

Against a cellular capacity of 8.4 million, the number of BSNL customers has crossed the 9.4 million mark.

"We have long exhausted our capacity. This, coupled with the delay in the roll-out of infrastructure for increased capacity, has forced us to go for over 100 per cent utilisation of our network to meet the increased demand," said a BSNL executive.

"This is only a temporary arrangement. Infrastructure expansion is nearing completion and we are likely to have an additional capacity of over 4 million by June-end," he added.

While overloading is a stop-gap solution for the PSU, it also has a considerable impact on the quality of services offered. Telecom industry sources consider a 70 - 80 per cent utilisation as ideal to get the best output from a cellular network.

"Above 80 per cent utilisation will choke the network. Overloading will be disastrous for the customers -- it will lead to call drops and disruptions in the service," an industry analyst told Business Standard.

The worst hit is the west zone having the circles of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh) and Maharashtra.Against a capacity of one million, BSNL has issued over 1.8 million connections in this zone.

In Maharashtra, the company has issued 852,26 connections against its network strength of 495,300, while in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, it has 666,949 and 296,050 subscribers against capacities of 459,750 and 137,850, respectively.

The north, south and east zones are better placed. The three circles in the east and two each in the north and south zone still have the scope to absorb new users.

When contacted, BSNL executives denied overloading was hampering the quality of services. "As per the recent performance indicator report on telecom service providers released by the telecom regulatory authority of India, there has not been any increase in the number of complaints in these circles on account of overloading," said an executive.